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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Back-to-School Shopping Goes Green

Disclosure: The below is a sponsored post, I may have received monetary or other compensation for this publishing it, although all ideas and opinions are my own. It is just about July, and the time has come to start thinking about green back to school shopping.

When I think of school "back in the day", I recall lunch boxes, pencil cases and picking out all the pencils and crayons and such and feeling so excited about a new start ever year. Maybe I was weird.
I think back of all the plastic in the landfills.. still there even though my school days are very far behind me.. my lunchboxes never seemed to last long....there is a better way to shop these days- we shop green.
I have found that The Ultimate Green Store lives up to its name when it comes to back to school shopping. They have a huge variety of green lunch options for your little person's first day back.
I am such a huge fan of stainless steel containers for my daughter. They can survive whatever you throw at them, and still look very stylish and hi-tech.Stainless Steel Three-in-One Bento Lunch Box

I am always concerned about the content of metals-- I used to work in a metal foundry and you would be surprised at how lead can sneak into a metal when you aren't careful. This can happen even in stainless steel so you really need to make sure that whatever you are buying has a certification about the materials of composition.
These bento boxes are tested independently- lead free.
They are food safe. They are going to be awesome for fruits without worrying about the fruit acids leaching out the metals (that is a thing!)When and if you ever decide you can no longer use these, they can be recycled. No landfills for you sweet little lunch box!
But how will you carry these? Certainly your kiddo will want an awesome carrying case like this one:

Dual-Compartment Insulated Bento TotesA nice design, and they are made of 100% Recyled PET. There will be no paper lunch bags in this house! You can get your bento box in here, some biodegradeable ice packs if you need them and a bit more.And what will we have our kiddos drink from? Although there are smaller stainless containers available, because Phoenix is so hot, I wouldn't send my daughter out for the day without a decent sized water bottle.These Stainless Steel Insulated Sports Bottles - 25 oz. are going to be perfect. It is not ALL the water she will need for the day, but it will be a good start for the school day. We do not mess around when it comes to hydration!I like these a lot because they are insulated. (I have used some other non insulated brands myself, and since I put crushed ice in mine, they always would sweat in my lunch bags.) These will not have that issue, and still keep the drink cold. One other little hidden gem on these- a mesh filter- to keep the spout from being clogged by my crushed ice, and also for making a tea.(I am thinking maybe we need 2 of these- mama loves tea;)And kids these days carry back packs. Big ones. Sturdy carry alls to fit the 500 pounds of books they need every day.I adore these packs-EcoGear Ocean Recycled PET BackpackI am a fan of the light colored version. When it is 110, do you really want a black back pack? I think not. I really like the handles on these- a little sturdier than the usual little ribbon hook you find on other back packs. You can hang them in a bathroom stall, on a hook in the hallway. A very nice feature. They have an unusual looking front closure that adds to the stylishness of it. Hey- kids want to look cool! We can chose to tell them that they are made from recycled water bottles or just keep it a secret until they appreciate it;)While you are picking up the nuts and bolts- do not forget the recycled newspaper pencils, soybean blend crayons and recycled content notebooks. These school supplies are thinking of the environment and they look great too.A green kid needs to be outfitted properly after all!So are you excited yet? I am!The Ultimate Green Store wants you to try them out with a $20 gift certificate!Enter below.